Republic of Congo: Civilians Killed in New Ninja Attack, 5/11/99

REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Civilians killed in new Ninja attack

NAIROBI, 11 May (IRIN) - Ninja militia allied to former
prime minister Bernard Kolelas attacked the Marien
Ngouabi military academy some 25 km north of Brazzaville
early on Sunday, news agencies said. The Associated
Press (AP) cited an army spokesman as saying on Monday
that government forces had repulsed the attack, killing
several dozen rebels.

Residents told IRIN on Monday that a number of civilians,
including children, had been killed when the attacking
Ninjas moved into northern Brazzaville, and houses
were completely looted. The city centre was reported
tense on Monday, with heavily-armed government-allied
Cobra militia patrolling the streets. Businesses and
government offices were closed and water supplies were
not operating, they said.

On Friday, fighting in the Poto-Poto area of Brazzaville
between government troops and their Chadian allies
left seven killed and dozens wounded, AP added.

Meanwhile, a total of 3,676 Congolese refugees in the
DRC had voluntarily repatriated to Brazzaville, with
UNHCR assistance, between 25 April and 10 May, and
another 1,000 refugees were scheduled to return on
Tuesday, a regional UNHCR spokesman told IRIN. A UNHCR
statement received by IRIN on Monday said "several
thousand" additional refugees had already returned
to Brazzaville by their own means over the past few
weeks.

Tens of thousands of people fled their homes late last
year due to renewed fighting in southern Brazzaville
and in the Pool region, and over 20,000 were estimated
to have crossed into DRC's Bas-Congo province.